The Gosport Borough Council (Forton Lake Opening Bridge) Order 1999

Power to make byelaws

20.—(1) The Council may make byelaws regulating the use and operation of the bridge and the conduct of all persons passing over the bridge or of all vessels passing through the opening span thereof or otherwise navigating or mooring within the limits of deviation.

(2) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (1) above, byelaws made under this article may make provision–

(a) with respect to interference with, or obstruction of, the operation of the bridge,

(b) for prohibiting or restricting the placing or leaving of any object on any part of the bridge, and

(c) for prohibiting any vessel from mooring alongside any part of the bridge.

(3) Byelaws made under this article may provide for it to be an offence for a person to contravene, or to fail to comply with, a provision of the byelaws and for such a person to be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

(4) Byelaws made under this article shall not come into operation until they have been confirmed by the Secretary of State.

(5) At least 28 days before applying for any byelaws to be confirmed under this article the Council shall publish in such manner as may be approved by the Secretary of State a notice of its intention to apply for the byelaws to be confirmed and of the place at which and the time during which a copy of the byelaws will be open to public inspection; and any person affected by any of the byelaws may make representations on them to the Secretary of State within a period specified in the notice, being a period of not less than 28 days.

(6) For at least 24 days before an application is made under this article for byelaws to be confirmed a copy of the byelaws shall be kept at the principal office of the Council and shall at all reasonable hours be open to public inspection without payment.

(7) The Council shall at the request of any person supply him with a copy of any such byelaws on payment of such reasonable sum as the Council may determine.

(8) The Secretary of State may confirm with or without modification, or may refuse to confirm, any of the byelaws submitted under this article for confirmation and, as regards any byelaws so confirmed, may fix a date on which the byelaws shall come into operation; and if no date is so fixed the byelaws shall come into operation after the expiry of 28 days from the date on which they were confirmed.

(9) The Secretary of State may charge the Council such fees in respect of any byelaws submitted for confirmation under this article as he may consider appropriate for the purpose of defraying any administrative expenses incurred by him in connection therewith.

(10) A copy of the byelaws when confirmed shall be printed and deposited at the principal office of the Council and shall at all reasonable hours be open to public inspection without payment, and the Council shall, at the request of any person, supply him with a copy of any such byelaws on payment of such reasonable sum as the Council shall determine.

(11) The production of a printed copy of byelaws confirmed under this article on which is endorsed a certificate purporting to be signed by a person duly authorised by the Council stating–

(a) that the byelaws were made by the Council,

(b) that the copy is a true copy of the byelaws,

(c) that on a specified date the byelaws were confirmed by the Secretary of State, and

(d) the date when the byelaws came into operation,

shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated in the certificate.